Erwin Blonk • User • The Register Forums

Virgin Media and BPI join forces to attack illegal filesharing

Friday 6th June 2008 11:22 GMT Erwin Blonk

@Greg

According to media companies we all are thiefs, that's why some countries, like mine, have a tax added to recordables etc that goes to a fund to re-imburse those entitled to royalties (or so they say, they don't have to disclose their finances). Never mind that I don't do illegal downloads and only buy music from the likes of MagnaTune, which means, when I burn a CD for myself, as expressly permitted by their license, money goes to an organization that the artist I bought the music from gets no penny from. BPI and their foreign counterparts must be laughing all the way to the bank: collecting money from non-offenders who buy music from artists that take a stance against the old music industry. It's like the Axis getting paid by the Allies.

My only consolation is that they get less money of off me than they would if they weren't behaving like idiots, criminalizing every one while stealing their money.

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The New Order: When reading is a crime

Friday 30th May 2008 14:16 GMT Erwin Blonk

Think again

@Righteously Indignant

Recently, a Dutch cartoonist was arrested. There was a complaint of discrimination against him. Anonymously, he writes ironic, sarcastic cartoons about the islam and muslims (with which I have no problem at all - I'm a buddhist and have no problem if people wipe their butts the tipitaka, actually it happens too little, people need to clean their butts - just don't flush it down the toilet, it while clog it, instant karma), you might like it.

Anyway, the police arrested him, held him for over a day, let him go and said sorry, sort off. But not after telling him that his anonimity was gone. Why does the police uses these afterburner threaths? Can't they do what they are supposed to do, instead of playing the judge and/or try to hand out implied threaths. I thought they were held to a higher standard than your average casa nostra. Apparently not. Believe me, I'm not anti-police, But they have extra powers and they have a duty to be that much more careful about what they do.

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